For Citroën Racing, the news was about far more than one team principal. Cyril Blais had become a central figure in a programme that was still in transition, and his sudden death last week has left Formula E facing a loss that reaches well beyond one garage.
Formula E confirmed on Monday that Blais had died suddenly, after teams were informed on Sunday morning. The series said that Monaco Sports Group, the operator of the Citroën Racing Formula E team, along with Citroën, Stellantis Motorsport, the FIA and the wider Formula E community, were deeply saddened by the news.
A familiar figure in Formula E
Blais had been involved in Formula E for nearly a decade. He worked at Mahindra from 2019 to 2021, and before that held roles with Manor Motorsport and Arden in Formula 3 and Formula 2. In autumn 2023, he was named team principal of Maserati MSG, replacing James Rossiter.
This season, he oversaw the transition from Maserati to Citroën, a significant organisational shift for a team that Monaco Sports Group has operated over the last three seasons. That made his role especially important: he was not only managing results, but also helping steer a new identity into place.
What Formula E said
Jeff Dodds said the paddock had been shaken by the loss of a colleague and friend, and extended condolences to Blais’s family, his loved ones and everyone who knew him. He also described the death as devastating for his family, for MSG, for Citroën Racing and for the wider Formula E community, adding that the paddock was supporting one another through an incredibly difficult period.
The reaction fits the scale of the loss. In a championship built on tight margins and constant movement, team principals are often judged by results alone. But Blais’s sudden death has reminded the Formula E world that the people behind the programme matter just as much as the machinery they manage.
He leaves behind a record of steady involvement across Formula E and a role at Citroën Racing that was still being defined. That is what makes the news so stark: this was not simply the loss of an experienced official, but of someone in the middle of shaping a team’s next chapter.
